£IK (fontfr Dcmncral.
BHUOKRT k FOBSTER. Editor*
VOL. X
ftk (fritter jOrmocrai.
Terms SI.AO per Annum, in Advance.
8. T. SHUGERT ind R. H. FORSTER, Editors.
Thursday Morning, March 3, 1881.
SENATOR W. A. WALLACE has ac
cepted an invitation to deliver the ad
dress before the Literary Society of
Muhlenberg College during the com
mencement week. The students of
that institution may expect a rich
treat from au earnest ami accomplish
ed orator.
HARD ON CONGRESSMEN. —A Meth
odist preacher in Cincinnati is credit
ed with the declaration that there will
not be as many congressmen in heaven
as there are icicles in the other place.
Nothing to worry ths statesmen in
that! Bob Ingersoll has froze up
"the other place" long ago, and no
doubt this preacher has been in his
company skating on iLs plane surface
with all the agility of an admiring
partisau.
THE Philadelphia reformers are still
reforming,and are now after the rogues
—the corrupt election officials, the
ballot-box stufTers and repeaters, whom
they propose to prosecute to conviction
in every instauce where sufficient evi
dence can be secured. If they |>er
form this duty faithfully without re
gard to individuals or parties, they
will deserve all honor. Philadelphia
elections, for some years, have been
a scandal and a reproach, and any i
means taken to give even a show of j
decency to them is to be commended !
ami encouraged by the whole people
of the State.
THE KINO BILL presented in the
legislature to handicap the new May- !
or of Philadelphia in the matter of
the appointment of the police, by vest- I
ing the selection of these officers iu a
Police Commission, to be appointed by
the council, has been very properly
sat down upon by the committee to
which it was referred. There is no
means sufficiently mean to restrain
these ringsters. The emphatic con- j
demnation of a partisan police by Un
people of Philadelphia at the late clec- i
tion, might at least have warned them
that the people of Philadelphia are j
not in temper to be trifled with in j
their corporate affairs.
Rurus K. HHAPI.EY, Mayor Stok- j
ley's private and official counsel, and
one of the ablest and most eloquent
advocates of his re-election, turns out
to be the author of that exquisite po
litical satire, "Solid for Muihooly."
Mr. Sbapley wrote the book when his
chief was dancing attendance on the
Reformers, and was the candidate of
the Committee of One Hundred. By
the time Mr. Shapley got his book into
print Stokley had changed partners
and was the choice of the bosses.
Thus the strange anomaly was wit
nessed of bhapley on the stump for
Stok ley, pleading with his Mulhoolies
and Blossom Bricks to support his
candidate, while Pattison, Caven and
others were using his own ammunition
to defeat him. As a political "Butter
cup," Mr. Shapley is a success. He
had things badly mixed.
THE invitation to General Hancock
to attend the Inauguration ceremonies
of the opponent "elected" over him (by
treachery in New York and corruption
in Indiana) is one that low enemies
would like to lay hold of for invidious
comment on the distinguished soldier,
whether be accepts or declines. But
surely if there ever was a case where
a man might be left free to decide his
course according to his own pleasure
or sense of what is right and proper,
this is the one. There is no call for
any one to sneer, whether Gen. Han
cock is present or absent. If he re
mains away, it will not unlikely be
due to a modesty which shuns an ova
tion that would throw that extended
to his rival into the shade, since this
one would be genuine —to the man,
and not to the office.
"K<JT'AL AND KXAIT JDHTK'K TO ALL MKN, JJR WIIATKVKK STAT* OK MCBKUASIOK, KKI.IUIOL'N OK POLITICAL."— JISfsraon
THE ('hicago Time*, commenting on
Senator Wallace's proposition to elect
the President and Vice President hv
a direct popular and plurality vote
taken by districts, expresses itself us
follows: "A feature of the proposition
tlint ought to receive the hearty in
dorsement of all good citizens is the
undoubted tendency it will have to
obliterate sectionalism and break up
the solidity of the North and South,
because, as Senator Wallace remarks,
with truth, under his system in the
lust election Pennsylvania would have
probably chosen nineteen electors for
Garfield and ten for Hancock, while
Virginia might have given eight for
Hancock and three for Garfield, and
so on through all the States North
ami .South. The udvantage of such a
policy can not be too fully appreciat
ed, for of all the political curses that
have been entailed upon this country,
that of sectionalism is by far the worst.
Another provision of the resolution
which is deserving of applause is the
proscription of a secret ballot, which
will do away with the possibility of
some lynx-eyed politician "setting" an
enemy who may hold office and yet
dare to vote for some individual of
the rival party whom he believes bet
ter fitted for the public service than
some party hack he may be forced to
support for fear of vengeance from
his friends. There are many other
features of Senator Wallace's resolu
tion, which must be passed over for
the present. It is a pity that the hon
orable gentleman must die officially
on March I, and that with him must
also perish for the present his great
scheme of electoral reform."
Tits: National Banks are making a
vigorous appeal to force a veto of the
Funding hill, recently passed by Con
gress, providing for the issue of 3 per
cent, bonds, which arc made compul
sory as a foundation for bank circula
tion. But the batiks presuming upon
their mastery of the Government and
the country demand that this bill shall
not become a law, and in the event
that their demand is not heeded have
threatened to retire their circulation
in order to achieve by panic what
they fail to obtain by protest. I>et
them do so; better this than sink the
independence of the country, and ac
knowledge the mastery of these soul
less tyrants. The bill they war against
anticipates ami provides against these
raids upon the Treasury and assures
the domination of the government
over the hanks. We remember that
nearly the same opposition was
made against the 4 per cent, certifi
cates, under the plea that no one
would take them, and yet when they
were placed upon the market, the rush
for them was so great that the supply
was found to be inadequate, and thou
sands were disappointed and unable
to purchase even at a premium.
Every one will remember the rush for
their certificates even in our own lit
tle town. This demonstration of the
hanks to coerce legislation is another
warning which should not escape pub
lic attention. It was against this as
sumed power of the money kings that
Andrew Jackson interposed his great
name and invincible power of will
and patriotic duty to crush out, and
we doubt not that in due time another
Jackson will appear to save the gov
ernment from the dangers that now
menace it from the same source.
THE President-elect started from
Mentor on his way to Washington to
lie inaugurated President of the United
States on last Monday afternoon and
arrived at the capital on Tuesday
morning. A large number of hia old
friends and neighbors congregated at
the railroad station to say good hye,
and Mr. Garfield made a feeling and
appropriate speech to them. He also
spoke from the platform of his special
car at several other points in his old
Congressional district along his route
of travel. The trip was very quietly
made, and after leaving Ohio
without interest or special incident to
attract attention.
BKLLEFONTK, l'A., TIIUKSDAY, MARCH 1881.
The River and Harbor Bill
That annual steal called the river
and hubor appropriation bill, in which
every member of (ongress tries to
get all ho can for bis district, this
year assumes larger proportions than
ever. The bill which passed on last
Saturday appropriates about sll ,'()<),-
000. It is only necessary to go hack a
few years to show what a monstrous
abuse this annual raid upon the pub
lic funds has grown to be. In 1870
an expenditure of not over $2,000,000
was found to he amply sufficient for
repairs and improvements to har
bors ami for improving the navigation
of a few of our principal inland
streams. But now every Congress
man seems to have a trout stream to
be improved. These gentlemen com
bine their influences. Their estimates
go into the bill and the money is vo
ted with a reckless and brazen disre
gard of the interests of the |>eople that
deserves the severest condemnation.
These men are unfaithful to the trusts
confided to their care and an outraged
public opinion should make itself felt
iu ccusure of their shortcomings.
Among the faithless, however, it is a
pleasure to note the few faithful, and
!to know that this outrage upon the
treasury was not permitted to pass
without strong protests against its
enormities from such Senators as Thur
man, Wallace and Kt-rnan. They
j were not strong enough to prevent the
I passage of the hill, and unless Mr.
Hayes will favor the country with a
veto it will undoubtedly become a law
and a large portion of the millions
voted under it be squandered upon
useless and unnecessary projects. The
Harrisburg Patriot expose* the char
acter of some of these "navigable
rivers" of the country Upon which it
is propped to spend the public money.
The Patriot says that "one of these
great navigable rivers upon whose
bosom i- to be borne the, commerce of
the country is the majestic Elk river
in West Virginia. The engineer Wil
liam P. Craighead, reports that before
this river can be "properly prepared
for the full development of trade,"
some or all of the private mill dams
upon it "should certainly be modified
or improved." His estimate is that
with much less than SIOO,OOO the
mill dams can lie "modified" and the
noble Elk opened for commerce. The
money thus sjient, be savs, will give
the Elk "ten or twelve inches' depth at
lowest water," and the Elk is put
down for a handsome appropriation
in the river and harbor hill. Imagine
what mighty vessels will float down
the stream with a depth of ten or
twelve inches of water.
Another of these mighty streams is
the Eittle Kanawha in West Virginia.
By lil>eral appropriations in the past,
as the engineer reports, rafting is now
practicable on the Little Kanawha
"at a much lower stage of water than
ever before." But as the navigation
for rafts is not fully improved on this
stream a further appropriation was
necessary. Appropriation is also made
in the bill to improve the Guyandotte
river for "push-boat navigation."
One of the items in this bill is to
make "pole boat channel" in the Sa
vannah river above August*. Thia
great improvement for commerce is to
be accomplished by putting up wing
dams on the river so as to concentrate
the water. This will make a channel
three feet deep. Fortunately there
are no mill dams that need to be modi
fied. Jay Gould and his associate
monopolists will tremble at these
statesmanlike efTorts to establish a
system of water transportation in
competition with the railroads. When
the mill dams on the Klk aro "modi
fied," when navigation for rafts is es
tablished on the Ouyandotte, and
when the upper waters of the Savan
nah are opened for pole boats, a new
and mighty commercial epoch tor the
country will begin, according to the
rredictions of the statesman of Cteorgia.
t is only necessary to pile up the ap
propriations, and pole boats, scows and
rafts will dispute the carrying trade
with the gigantic railroad monopolies."
THE drcndful catastrophe that oc
! curred at Hcranton the other day, by
which seventeen orphan children lost
their lives, leaves an impressive lesson
behind it which should not be unlieed
; cd. These children were locked in
their dormitory and died from suffoca
tion. But for the iron bolt that burred
their egress, they might have escajx-d
the terrible fate that befell them. It
is the custom iu many asylums and
schools for children to lock them into
their rooms at night, and this is not
the first awful sacrifice that has result
|ed from this practice. But it ought
|to be the last, for there is no excuse
for taking the risk of burning children
to death merely to save the expense of
I a watchman. It would he sufc to say
that more than half the children who
! have been suffocated or burned to
■ death, l>oth in private houses and pub
lie institutions, have fallen victims to
the horrid custom of locking them in.
Not many weeks ago, iu a Western
village, six children were locked into
i the house, asleep, while their parents
went to church. The dwelling burned
and all were lost, but the [xjsition of
i tbo charred remains showed that they
| had vainly striven to force an egress
through the hx-ked dour. It is a hor
rible practice, and those who follow it
are guilty of criminal disregard of
' the lives of those under their charge.
ALL attempts to pass the Apportion
ment Bill have been met by the Repub
lican members by filibustering and dil
atory motions under the lead of that
Congressional nuisance and obstruc
tionist, Conger, of Michigan, fur which
there was no excuse, as the I >cmocrats
offered to meet them fairly in the most
lilteral terms of compromise. The ob
ject of this course is to force an extra
session of Congress. The failure of
this bill will also involve the necessity
and expense of extra sessions of the
legislature in more than one-half of
| the Status of the Union at a fearful
j c(t to the people. The Republicans
arc thus making a record and estab
lishing precedents that will certainly
1 return to plague them in the future,
and why the sensible Republicans, if
there are such, do not curb the officious
blatherskite who leads, is a mysterv
that ran be accounted for only by par"
tisan blindness of the must ultra and
inexcusable character.
THE unwavering loyalty of the
stalwart |>atrioLs of the National capi
tal has just received another strong
exemplification. These gentlemen will
not march under the leadership of the
"rebel brigadier," and have raised a
hornet's nest about (Jen. Sherman's
ears for selecting (Jen. Field to com
mand one of the divisions of the in
augural proceaaion. The "rebel brig
adier," however, in the organization of
the United States Senate is not to be
sneezed at, and these aatno super-loyal
gentlemen will not object to receiving
any advantage that may come to them
through the vote of Mahone. When
there are spoila to divide and the "reb
el brigadier" is a potent factor in the
securing of them he is not such a had
fellow and may be safely tolerated.
THE man who for four years filled
the high position to which the people
of the United States had called Sam
uel J. Tilden, steps down and out to
morrow, He will retire to obscurity,
despised by mankind, and in the future
will only be thought of as the one in
whose person fraud first triumphed
over the rights of the people.
ANOTHER appeal for* aid ia made
for the colored emigrants in Kansas.
They are said to be freezing and starv
ing in large numbers and there ia
urgent demand for prompt relief.
THEcompieted tabulation of the pop
ulation of the United Statea, as given
in the late census, shows that the ex
cess of males over females ia 888,29 ft.
His FRAUDULERCY, Rutherford B.
Hayes, retires from hia stolen office
to-morrow.
Book Notice**.
TIIK tnoit striking thing* in Ihe March
| ST. Nl< not. AK lire Mrs. Oliphanl'S ml MI Ta
ble pajier giving the touching story of
: 1 I.Hily Juno Urey ' (to be followed iri
j April by the companion article on "Mary,
(pieeii of Scot*"); HII illustrated account
of two sturdy Icelandic boys and their
desperate "Kncounter with a Polar Bear" ;
"Mary Jane Describes Herself," an illus
trated sulohiogrnphy of a Sunday-school
scholar ; a new scientitic in-door amuse
ment called "Ihe Magic Dance"; an inci
dent of Adeline I'alti's childhood, when
traveling in the United States, in IS. VI,
with <lle Bull and Maurice StrakoM h ; and
the four serials, the fourth installment of
Rossiter Johnson's story of "Pha-ton Bog
er, in which is described that young in
ventor's disastrous "horizontal balloon-as
sension '; Ilr. Oswald s stirring "Adven
tures in Nature's Wonderland"; Mrs.
t Sara Krskine Clement's second paper of
"Stories of Art and Artists, ' with six
pictures ; and the anonymous "Mystery in
a Mansion, a Story of an S. 8." There
are more than fifty illustrations, a page of
music, and an Anglo-Chinese story for the
boys and girls to interpret.
BCKIII.VKR for March has a number of
interesting points. The second part of M re.
( Burnett's piquant novelette, "A Fair Bar
barian, will be eagerly read by those who
i have read the first part, and will be found
I even more interesting. "Kricsson s Z>e-
I sfrc.yrr, and her New Gun," i# the subject
; of a paper, by Charles Barnard, which ha.
the advantageof presenting the first draw
ings of this long-exjocted piece of arma
ment, with some fresh details. Never
before-engrased jairtraiu of Charles and
j Mary Lamb, from old paintings, embellish
i a short paj-er by Mr John Arbuckle. "In
le<ndon with Dickens" is a chronicle of
the localities of Boa, including Mr. Tulk
mghorn s house, Limehouse Hole, Jennv
I Wren 's house, the Inns of Court, etc. Dr.
B. K. Martin, who contribute* this paper,
! write# from personal familiarity with the
! place* which he describes. Another simi-
I lar paper is to follow Still further varie
ty is given to the number by a second
j i*per of "Recollections of American So
ciety,"by Mrs S. W. Oakey; antllustrat
j <sd paper on "Striped Bas, bv Mr Fran
cis Kndicott ; an account of "Protestant
; ism in Italy," by Rev. Washington (>.*d
| >len ; more "Notes of a Walker.' including
j discussion of Bhakspere's natural history,
by John Burroughs; "A Dangerous Vir
tue, a striking short story, by Mr. H 11.
Boyoaen ; and the fifth p.art of Mr. Schuy
ler s "Peter the (treat a* Ruler and Re
former," illustrated by Blum, Neblig, and
others. Among the p>oems there is a son
net ("Two Home*' ) by Itr. Holland, who,
in "Topics of the Time," writes of
George Kliot" and "The Metropolitan
Museum,' and take# note of Bishop Coxes
excepition to part of a recent paper in
SeaI IIJSKR on the Bible Society. "Home
and Society" treats of "A Mother s Duly
to her Girls,' "A New Cooking-Stove,"
and "Servants' Rooms and (Quarters."
"The \\' orld a Work" deals with "Artifi
cial Ballast," "Power for Pleasure-Boats," j
"Optical Tests for Milk, etc., and "Brie
a-Brae" has humor and pleasantry of its
own well-established kind.
Famous Bathers at the lint Spring*.
Ff"a tl* Ul*r4kn.
Five years before his death, the Hon.
O. I'. Morton, of Indiana, catne here to
check, as far a* possible, the progress of
his disease. The Hon. James G. Blaine
has been a sojourner here during three
season*. United State* Senator elect
f'amden, of West Virginia, comes here
with his family every year. ExGover- 1
nor Hendricks, of Indiana ; the Wash- i
burn* brothers, E. B. and C.C.; Senator
Veat, of Missouri; Senator Maxey, of
Texas; Senator Voorhees, of Indiana; j
W. B. Astor. of New York; the Herri- i
sons, of St I-ouis, are habitual visitors
here; ex Gov. Beriah Magoflin, of Ken- i
lucky; Col. Tom Nelson, of Indiana,
and ex Gov. Merrill, of lowa, are at 1
present here. The Hon. Fernando
Wood, New York, was one of the
latest arrivals, but soon succumbed to
his ailments.
Maine New*.
Hop Rittera, which are advertised in
our columns, are a sure cure for ague,
biliousness and kidney complaints!
Those who use them say they cannot be
too highly recommended. Those afflict
ed should give them a fair trial, and
will become thereby enthusiastic in the
praise of their curative qualities.- /Vl
tflW Argvt.
Gen. Garfield's last Sunday at Mentor
preceding his ttip to Washington, to !
assume the duties of President, was
very quiet In the morning he attend
ed church, accompanied by his family
and the remainder of the day passed in
the usual quiet manner. All prepara
tions for the trip were suspended.
There were few, tf any nailers and
Lawn field was more like iUetf, a year
K, than an almost any praoeding day
tha nomination.
TOMS: $1.50 per Annum, Advance.
UENCRAL NEWS.
The favorite ie in Washington so
fifty have big, brown eyea, smooth dark
r i hair and large mouth* that know how
to smile.
A stone pitcher used by John Brown
• during hi* iinpri*onnient in Charles.
; town, Vu.. ws sold at auction in Balti
. , more on Wednesday for #7).
Ixindon, with a population of 3,500,-
000, manages to get along with a fire
department of 406 men, and still clings
: lo the old fashioned hand engine.
Last f-riday Governor Hawkins' mes
sage was presented to the Tenneasee
, Legislature. The debt of the State is
over 500,000. including interest.
I lie Governor believes the best interests
of the State will be subserved Wy a
( speedy adjustment.
Vanderbilt, the elder, gave Nashville,
Tenn., a university, and in Nashville
now the people have a regular Vander
bilt fever. I hev have a " Vanderbilt
shirt factory," a "Vanderbilt barber
shop, a "\ underbill corn cutter" and
[ more to come.
Sheridan Matthews, 10 years of
, *ge. w* fearfully mangled by cars last
, i ' bursday, at < arbondale, while on bis
i way home from work. He was employ
ed on a level of the Delaware and iiud
son Gravity road and at quitting time
attempted to board a moving train and
fell under the wheels. His escape from
instant death was miraculous.
A man and woman were married at
the cantonment on the Bad Land*, in
• | Dakota, on the 10th, Jtev. Mr. Stevens,
of Hismark, officiating by telegraph.
i Iwo citizens witnessed the parties re
sponding to the minister's questions
from one end of the wire, while a news
paper correspondent and others saw
. the minister do his duty at the other.
Major lien Perley I'oore, the "father"
. of the reporters' gallery, went to Wash
ington in ilewa*born in George
( town, and was very young when he
began hi the National Legislature to
' r fP° rt . 'tews of the capital for a
New York newspaper. He has lived in
He ha* a very distinct recollection of
every inauguration from the time of
John fjuiney Adam*.
General Sherman, Grand Marshal of
the inaugural ceremonies of General
, Garfield, has issued a circular detailing
the programme to f-e observer! by the
military ecort of the President elect:
I be First Division will be commanded
by Brevet Brigadier General Ay res ; the
Second by Major General Hartranft;
the 1 liird by Major General Fletcher,
and t be 1 ourth by Major General Field.
Ihe Legislature of Tennessee on the
17th accepted an invitation to attend
the inauguration.
rite Census office announces the fol
lowing approximate distribution of the
total pnj uUtion of the country among
the several classes : Males, 25,530,582;
I females, 24,632.284; natives of the
I nited Male*. 1 ;,475 506; foreign born,
!6t|; white*, colored,
6,5i7,l -1 ; Indians and half-breeds not
in tribal relations on reservations under
the care of the Government, 65,122;
< hinese, 105,463 ; other Anastica, 255.
Ibe numb- f colored persons to each
100.000 whiffs is 15,153, against 14,528
-in 1870, The MUDber of females to
: every 100,000 males is 96,519. against
v7.Mil m 1870. The nutnl>er of foreign
born person* to every 100,000 natives is
15,359, against 16,875 in 1870.
W hen the < tcean City people saw
some strange object far out at sea, the
other morning, they got out their glass
• and went down to the beach. They
discovered that the object was an im
mense ice field, which appeared to be
drift ting nearer and nearer. On the
following day the floe, which was from
three to four feet thick and which
stretched out to sea three miles, drifted
to the shore. The roar of the surf was
bushed for several hours, when the
; tnass was |>artly broken up. Hundreds
of people from the surrounding country
witnessed the novel sight.
The liabilities of Mount St. Mary s
College, Ltnmil tsburg, Maryland, are
stated at #165.000 to #200.000. and the
assets at #50,000 to #IOO,OOO. The prin
cipal creditors are Mrs. Anna P. Mar
! shall, first mortgage, #17,000; First Na
tional bank of Hanover, Pa., #25,000
and #IB,OOO of paper discounted for the
college; Gettysburg (l*a.) Hank, #6,000;
First National bank of Frederick, #5,000;
I.iltletown (Pa.) Bank. #2,400. There
are over one hundred creditor!, but
very little of the indebtedness is in
Baltimore. Captain James MoSherry,
| lawyer, of F'rederick, is the receiver.
A special from Kmmilteburg says that
the graduating class of the college has
rebelled, left the institution and lodged
st a hotel in the adjacent village. Kev.
lather Hill, the President, will return
to Brooklyn.
The Ames Manufacturing Company
of Chioopee, has taken a long stride
toward a return to the old apprentice
system. The Company has been very
much troubled to get skilled help, and
also by having men leave after they
have learned enough to begin to be use
ful. It hat now adopted a plan some
thing like the former system, only the
I term of service is not more than three
| or four years, instead of seven, und ap
plications come in by ecorea. The men
| sign a contract to stay to the end of
the term, and the company will teach
them the different branches of the
business, so that when they go out they
will be masters of the trade, instead of
knowing how to run but one machine
or to do but one particular kind of
work. The company keeps 10 oenls a
day from their pay until it amounts to
#IOO, which is given to them at the end
of the apprenticeship.
NO. <>.